Saturday, 21 February 2009

The souvenir from the collapsed retail chain received 115 bids before finally being sold to the highest bidder on eBay at midday on Saturday.Ed Adams, a Woolworths store manager, filled the pic'n'mix just before his shop in Petts Wood, Bromley, south London, closed for the last time.The money will go to the Retail Trust, a charity for retail industry workers.

"I am really proud and excited to see such an enormous sum has been raised for the last bag of pic'n'mix," said Mr Adams. "Retail Trust is a fantastic organisation that has helped so many people like me."

Worthwhile cause

The 800g bag includes fizzy cola bottles, rhubarb & custards, strawberry bon bons, Turkish delight, white mice and pineapple cubes. Nigel Rothband, Retail Trust chief executive, said: "It's taken us by surprise. It's very exciting and much more than we were expecting." The bag has been officially certified by Woolworths' administrators, Deloitte, as the last one. A spokesman said: "The administrators of Woolworths PLC have consented to the sale of this item for the benefit of Retail Trust. "They are pleased to be supporting this worthwhile cause and hope the proceeds will make a difference to those workers helped by the charity." An eBay spokesman said they were working with the charity to "finalise payment" from the winning bidder.